Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan,
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
-Matthew 3;5-6
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.
-Matthew 3:11
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
-Acts 2:1-3
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How did Peter associate John's baptism with the baptism of the Holy Ghost in the following reference? And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. -Acts 11:15-16 |
under the water. Jesus "went up straightway" on His own power, meaning that He immediately walked away from the water, or He climbed up the bank of the river after being baptized.
Finally, John's normal mode of baptizing was probably pouring or sprinkling, as described in the following section. This also lends credibility to His use of pouring or sprinkling when baptizing Jesus.
3. The baptizing of others by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:5-6). As with all the previous cases, the baptismal method used by John is not clearly stated. The following factors, however, support his use of sprinkling or pouring rather than immersing.
John links his baptism with water to Jesus' baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16). When this prophesy was fulfilled on Pentecost Day, what mode of baptism did the Holy Spirit use? The Spirit was poured out from heaven and descended to rest upon the heads of the apostles in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:1-3). Baptism with the Holy Ghost was always effected by the Spirit coming from above and falling upon the person being baptized.
When John states that he baptizes with water but Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost, there is no hint of a change of mode. John's comparison is clear when one pictures his baptism as taking place by pouring or sprinkling, as if he were saying, "As I pour water upon you, so Christ shall pour out His Spirit upon you." The analogy becomes distorted if one tries to picture John's baptism as taking place by immersion, for a person did not step into or under the Spirit, but the Spirit always came or fell upon him from above.
Peter testified of this truth in his Pentecost sermon when he stated, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2:16-17). Also, when Peter relates in Acts 10:44-45 how the Holy Spirit
